“Alex had cooked, and coaxed, and helped Mark form borders around the shapeless days. Alex had given meaning to the word "servant".”

“I was thinking...""We know," Pedro said, "It was like sitting next to a pressure cooker”

“Our task is to carry the Lord's peace into every situation, into every duty.”

“Sometimes I need a place to ask myself impossible questions.”

“The distance had been evaporated by humor”

“The afternoon's glory was tainted by the voice on the other end. "I was so very sorry not to have the pleasure of meeting you, Mr. Haines. You're not living up to your part of the bargain.”

“Normal Iraqi etiquette was forgotten the moment drivers sat behind the wheel.”

“Mark felt eyes on him as tight as a sniper's aim.”

“It was typical of the American to identify the one unfinished strand.”

“He used a minimum of words and no inflection whatsoever. It was a policeman's manner of speaking, direct and unadorned.”

“His eyes touched lightly, and passed on.”